buttonmashing

Mashing buttons since 1984

xbox 360

Xbox Live Gamercard and Gamertag

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Since migrating my Xbox Live account from my original Xbox to a 360 “Gold” Account was a cinch, I was able to keep my old Gamertag (which I’m quite fond of) and I’m up and running on Live without a hitch.

Here’s another link to my Profile: http://live.xbox.com/member/I aint yer Pa

So as you can see, my gamertag is “I aint yer Pa”. If you’re on Live and your a Buttonmashing.com reader, feel free to drop me a friend request. I still need to convince my current Xbox buddies to get on the 360 bandwagon and talk those who have a 360 to get connected as well!

Coming attractions

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In lieu of new content, I’m going to post my to-do list here, so each time I see this post I’ll be motivated to actually produce something more than three word sentences about zombies. I actually have a lot of “stubs” for posts, in draft form, that I will be finishing. They’re little snippets and ideas about things that are interesting me at the moment. I wish I had more time to work on them, but I have been busy with Real Life©, my new 360 and other blogging endeavors that require a lot of my Buttonmashing time. But I don’t want to neglect my readers, so this is a little teaser of things to come.

  • I’m almost finished tagging all my old posts and fixing the Archives Page so it actually works properly
  • I’ve got a few code and theme tweaks I’d like to add
  • Finish adding content to my snazzy Side Bar Modules (including my Gamer Card)
  • Initial impressions of the Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, and of course Dead Rising
  • I’ll soon be importing Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan and hopefully that will arrive by next week, so expect a post or two about that
  • A page for my gaming “Queue” will finally materialize
  • I’m working on a post about “meta-gaming” which I think is looking good
  • Finish my About Page with contact info (I enjoy getting feedback from readers), including my DS codes and Xbox Live Gamertag
  • I’ve been listening to a lot of Podcasts, so I’m working on a big post of thoughts and reviews.
  • I still haven’t posted my impressions/reviews of Meteos and Age of Kings DS

So yeah, that’s a lot of stuff. I’ve got my work cut out for me. I’ll be pounding away at this list for a few weeks but if I can pull myself away from the 360 for a bit this weekend (after the amazing OSU/Texas game Saturday night and the Cleveland Browns opener) I’ll get some of it done.

Thanks for sticking around and hopefully the new stuff will be worth the wait!

Lazy Sunday
I’m not lazy, I swear!

Xbox 360 Imminent?

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I am this close (and by “this” I mean the space between two pixels that make up the “i” in the word “this”) to getting an Xbox 360. My local Micro Center is offering $100 dollar rebates to purchases of both Xbox systems (the premium and core). On top of that, they’re offering a $200 store voucher for signing up for a year of Vonage. That brings the price tag of a Premium Xbox 360 to $99 which puts it right in a place I like to call my “wheelhouse.”

Switching to Vonage has been something I’ve been investigating for a few weeks now anyway, so the stars are aligning, as they say. Mrs. buttonMasher seems to agree that this might be too good of a deal to pass up. Of course I couldn’t agree more, know what I’m saying?

So I will be at Ohio State’s opening game tomorrow afternoon and it’s very possible I’ll be heading to Micro Center shortly after their dominating victory.

It will be mine.

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Oh yes, it will be mine.

Some thoughts…

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I know blogging has been light lately, but RL keeps getting in the way. I’d like to say gaming has kept me away but sadly that isn’t the case. Gaming has been limited to EVE lately, with an occasional Animal Crossing break.

Even with the lack of blogging, I wanted to post a few thoughts I’ve had recently:

  • Even with two AAA titles out in the past couple of weeks (Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter and Oblivion), I still find that I’m not really gravitating toward the Xbox 360. All the trimmings on the periphery (Xbox Live Arcade, Gamer Points) still intrigue me but the games don’t. I’ve never played any of the Elder Scrolls games (even though I own Morrowind) but I’ve been fascinated by the excited anticipation surrounding Oblivion. I’ll be watching Adam’s blog, since he’s in the same boat and will be playing an Elder Scrolls game for the first time. Even with all the excitement, I’m still content with the occasional Halo 2 match with friends and a little NCAA 2006. I’d also like to snag a copy of both Mercenaries and Forza since I never finished either of those. And I also have a stack of games that I’ve only played briefly that I’d like to get to. So yeah, I’m really not feeling the 360 right now.

    So I’m not sure what will be the title that pushes me over the edge. Probably the next NCAA title. If not that, then certainly the next Halo.

  • That being said, I am currently drooling over the DS Lite. I don’t know when it hits our shores, but man I want that! It just looks sexy (something the original does not). While I’d really like to get a black Lite, I think the dark blue (Navy enamel or something) will do. I’m also pumped about Metroid Prime Hunters. If I have a chance, I’ll be picking up a copy later this evening, but you never know how that works. I was a little worried about the control scheme, but after reading Tycho’s blurb about it you can color me excited.
  • I’m really digging EVE-Online. So much so that I’m running a mission as I type. I never got around to Auto Assault and now I doubt I will. It’s not that I didn’t want to, but the gaming buffet is already overflowing. With Metroid and Tetris on the cusp, I just don’t need another time sink. It isn’t easy being a gamer.
  • I have a bunch of posts that are in various states of completion that I’d like to get to at some point. I’ve got stuff on MMOs (Sports games in particular), video game music (and other music-related stuff) and whatever else fills the empty space in my head. I’ll get around to them eventually. Right now, someone is in dire need of Antibiotics and I’ve got to deliver.

Green with Envy

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There, I said it. I’m envious of those lucky enough to already be playing on the Xbox 360. I stated earlier that I wasn’t interested in getting an Xbox 360 at launch. I had convinced myself the launch lineup was weak, I didn’t want to wait out in the cold, I didn’t want to be nickel-and-dimed to death with the Live Marketplace, I didn’t feel like paying for old arcade games and I most certainly didn’t want to drop sixty bones a pop for games. I thought my arguments were pretty convincing. Why do I feel an empty space in my gaming soul, then? Why do I want one when there are cases of crashes, power bricks overheating, unscrupulous bundling, disc scratching, shiny graphics with shallow game play improvements?

I didn’t get a console on launch day for a number of reasons. The main one being I didn’t preorder and I didn’t want to hassle with limited supplies. I won’t go into the perceived supply shortages. Intentional or not, it looks like MS had the foresight to hold on to some extra units for replacements. And according to the mucky-mucks, there will be more arriving weekly (there’s hope for us afterall!). Nevertheless, some people had interesting experiences getting one and unfortunately others had their pre-orders cancelled. Bummer. Will has his. Lucky! Gaming Steve has some nice Best Buy launch pictures. So no launch console for me, but as I said, there’s hope! JCPenny offers this sweet deal (ht: Team Xbox). If paying four hundred dollars for a couple extra pieces of plastic and silicon doesn’t appeal to you, there is this interesting way of getting one. One could always get a Core System. Noob! This guy (ht: Pixel Dujour) speaks for a lot of gamers – I’ve got the cash but a lot of good that does me. So there’s that. A lot of people want them and not everyone is getting them.

A stroll around the gamingsphere has a lot of people gushing about the 360. Nick at G-Pinions might as well be a salesman for Microsoft. The guy’s pitch would have sold me one. Bill at Dubious Quality live-blogged his hour long sessions with most of the release titles, finishing up with his rankings. Just go to his site, scroll to the bottom and start scrolling up. Color me jealous. Apex had a lot to say (again, just start scrolling), including some things for the naysayers. There are more out there (I’ll try to add them as I find them) but it just makes me sad to read about people’s early Christmas. Let me know if you how your first week has been (so I can hate you without ever meeting you)

All the hype and excitement abound but I still haven’t completely put my finger on the true source of my yearning. I could say it’s jealousy but that’s not exactly it. I think it’s Xbox Live. Everything I’ve read about it sounds fantastic (re-read Nick’s piece). Live leader boards, game demos, classic arcade games. (I do find it ironic that the game most people gush about is not Pefect Dark Zero or King Kong, it’s Geometry Wars.) Gamer cards look awesome. Heck, I even set one up for myself even though I don’t have anything to show off. (But beware of the FBI! Right.) Anyway, I look forward to all the fragging and bragging that will go on with the new pissing contest cards. The new Xbox Live really seems to be a giant step in the right direction (even if everyone isn’t down with it). So maybe it’s more than just Live. More than just the allure of a new shiny gadget.

I want to be part of the hive. I want high scores and co-op Smash TV. I want to play on a new TV with high-definition resolution and I want to have wireless controllers and I want wireless headsets. I want I want I want. That’s just it. It’s part of my core as a gamer. I don’t want to miss out.

I want one, plain and simple.